Ukraine's president decries Crimea's occupation

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy used his speech before the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday to stress the need for a "de-occupation" of annexed Crimea, calling for reforms of the U.N.

In a pre-recorded address to the Assembly, Zelenskiy spoke of the Russian annexation of Crimea, urging the world not to let the issue simply become a "customary element of the international order."

"It is unacceptable when the sovereignty of an independent country is violated by one of the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. It definitively proves (that) mechanisms of 1945 don't work to their full extent," Zelenskiy said.

Moscow views the Crimea annexation as legitimate.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been pushing for years to end U.S. and European Union sanctions imposed on Moscow after it annexed the territory from Ukraine in 2014.

Zelenskiy also suggested opening an international office to combat disinformation in Kyiv, as Ukraine since 20014 had been "actively countering propaganda and information attacks.".

Speaking of global threats to the world, such as the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout, the president said that "uniting the efforts of all the states is an absolute requirement of the times."

"Every year a call for action instead of talks gets louder at the General Assembly. It is an indication of a crisis in the U.N., the security architecture, the health of humanity, our economies and the world as a whole," Zelenskiy said.